Blackberry Trellis Design and Implementation

Patrick ByersRegional Horticulture SpecialistMU Extension – Greene County

Springfield, Missouri, USA

Blackberry Trellis Design and Implementation

• Blackberry types

• Functions of trellis system

• Types of trellises

– Two wire trellis

– Supported hedgerow trellis

– Shift trellis

Blackberry Types

• Erect blackberries

– Thornless cultivars• ‘Natchez’

• ‘Osage’

• ‘Ouachita’

• ‘Apache’

• ‘Navaho’

– Thorny cultivars• ‘Kiowa’

• ‘Shawnee’

• ‘Chickasaw’

Blackberry Types

• Erect blackberries

– Primocane (everbearing) cultivars• Thorny

– ‘Prime-Ark 45’

– ‘PrimeJim’

– ‘PrimeJan’

• Thornless

– ‘Prime-Ark Freedom’

– ‘Prime-Ark Traveler’

Blackberry Types

• Semi-erect blackberries

– Thornless cultivars• ‘Chester’

• ‘Triple Crown’

• ‘Loch Ness’

• ‘Black Satin’

• ‘Thornfree’

Blackberry Types

• Trailing blackberries– Thornless cultivars

• ‘Black Diamond’

• ‘Thornless Evergreen’

• ‘Tayberry’

• ‘Waldo’

– Thorny cultivars• ‘Marion’

• ‘Obsidian’

• ‘Logan’

• ‘Silvan’

Functions of a Trellis System• Control plant size, height, cane spread, and

productivity• Facilitate cultural operations• Stimulate lateral cane growth• Thin out weak canes• Alter fruiting time• Improve insect and disease control• Increase harvest efficiency• Make picking more enjoyable

Types of Trellises

• Two wire trellis

• Supported hedgerow trellis

• Shift trellis

Types of Trellises

• Two wire trellis

Types of Trellises

• Two wire trellis

Two Wire Trellis

• Advantages

– Easy to build and maintain.

– Economical.

• Disadvantages

– Lower yield.

– Crowded canopy, which will increase disease pressure

– harvest more difficult.

Types of Trellises

• Supported hedgerow trellis

Supported Hedgerow Trellis• Advantages

– This trellis allows greater light penetration into the canopy and as a result, higher yields than a single post.

– Air circulation is greater, so disease pressure is decreased.

– If fence posts are used, horizontal wires can be moved up or down to accommodate a cultivar’s vigor.

• Disadvantages– Higher cost than a simple 1 or 2 wire trellis.

4 Wire Supported

Hedgerow Trellis

Supported

Hedgerow Trellis

Types of Trellises

• Shift Trellis

Shift Trellis• Advantages

– Easier harvest, all fruit is on one side of the canopy.

– Less sunscald.

– Winter protection.

• Disadvantages

– Expensive.

– Harder to learn how to train and prune.

Shift Trellis• Components

Shift TrellisWinter Position

Shift TrellisBudbreak - Flowering Position

Shift TrellisFruiting Position

Any Questions?